🧢 Just how good is Goods Yard going to be?
The development of Stoke-on-Trent’s new urban neighbourhood is entering its final stages. Work has started on the much-anticipated new public square and lush green spaces at Goods Yard in Stoke. Capital&Centric, the social impact developer transforming the former industrial site, is creating a green oasis to greet visitors as they arrive from Glebe Street. The new public square will become a flexible space for pop-up markets, live music or simply hanging out with friends. Visitors will also be able to peer through glass in the floor into the Vaults Warehouse below, once used to store goods passing from canal to rail and set to become a buzzing all-day social hub and foodie destination. The canal jetty is being overhauled into a waterside green spot, with outdoor seating for canalside drinks and dining while a new direct, much improved walkway will bring the Goods Yard square within a 60-second walk to the neighbouring Stoke-on-Trent Railway Station.
🧢 Historic Derby factory will open to public for the first time during Railway200
Alstom, the UK’s leading supplier of new trains and train services will be opening its historic Derby factory to the public for the first time in 2025 to host an unprecedented event in celebration of Railway 200. The Greatest Gathering on 1, 2 and 3 August will see the largest temporary assembly of rolling stock and railway-related exhibits in a generation, all coming together for three days across the vast estate of Derby Litchurch Lane Works.
🧢 This week’s ‘Top Pick’ @WeightmanPR: Bodnant Gardens
A great garden offers something to enjoy during every season and the National Trust’s Grade I listed Bodnant in North Wales has 80 acres of formal gardens, woodland and panoramic mountain views. It also possesses one of the finest, best-loved, and most publicised winter gardens in the British Isles. The jewel in Bodnant's crown, the winter gardens are in a once-neglected Edwardian rockery, which was renovated and opened to the public in 2012. And for those wanting the first sign of new growth in the New Year, Bodnant’s unusual snowdrop specimens start to pop up throughout the winter garden in January.
🧢 Derby Uncovered - the Christmas edition
Start your evening guided tour of Derby with mince pies and mulled wine at the Heritage Centre before embarking on an eye-opening tour of the city centre - including a visit to see the remains of an original Victorian Police Cell in the Old County Hall on St. Mary’s Gate. Christmas edition tours are scheduled for 18-20 December and there’s also a copy of a free Derby-related book for everyone joining the £15 per head, 2½ hour Derby Uncovered walk.